EL OBEID, NORTH KORDOFAN, 15 October 2026: Children in El Obeid are having their education disrupted by drones, and are being forced to make impossible choices in pursuit of an education, said Shashwat Saraf, the Norwegian Refugee Council’s (NRC) country director in Sudan, after visiting the city this week.
“I visited a school where teachers told me they are being forced to regularly suspend lessons as a result of drones flying overhead,” Saraf said. “It is an outrage that children should experience such things when simply trying to get education: they should not have to be brave just to attend school.”
NRC-supported learning centres in El Obeid have enrolled more than 5,500 pupils, with many other families still trying to enrol their children. NRC works with its partner, the Alsalam Organisation for Rehabilitation and Development (AORD), to help children catch up on missed learning and cope with fear and stress.
Drones have repeatedly struck civilian sites in El Obeid in recent weeks, including a university dormitory, a shelter for displaced families, and warehouses in Sheikan locality holding more than 330,000 textbooks. El Obeid is home to more than half a million people, including tens of thousands displaced by fighting elsewhere in Kordofan and Sudan.
“The places where people sleep have been hit from the air, and so have the books children need to learn,” Saraf said. “Each attack leaves families wondering what will be hit next. Families who have already lost their homes are also facing rising prices and struggling to find enough clean water, safe sanitation and adequate shelter.”
“Children are willing, teachers are willing, parents are willing. What they are missing is the certainty that a school day can simply be a school day, without listening for drones or wondering when lessons might have to stop,” Saraf said.
NRC also supports a girls’ school in El Obeid, where about 1,200 students are enrolled, and just three classrooms are available for use. “Entering one of the classrooms meant trying not to step on one another,” Saraf said. NRC has built two more classrooms and toilets, provided learning materials, and trained teachers to support children affected by conflict. “Standing there, I could see that it was not enough,” he said.
In response to the growing needs in El Obeid, NRC has provided cash assistance to 4,000 households and distributed 3,000 kits containing hygiene and shelter items, including blankets, plastic sheeting, sleeping mats, jerrycans and solar lamps. NRC will also support community initiatives, building on the efforts of people who are already responding to needs within their communities. NRC’s 12-month response plan for El Obeid seeks $7.1 million to reach 107,000 people, and 65 per cent of that is still unfunded.
“Attacks on civilians and the infrastructure they rely upon are prohibited under international humanitarian law,” Saraf said. “The parties to this war must protect schools, homes, shelters and markets, and keep military assets away from civilian areas. Donors must fund water, shelter and education now, so that displaced and host families in El Obeid have somewhere to turn.”
Karl Schembri: Regional Media Adviser for East and Southern Africa
Mobile +254 741 664 562
e-mail: karl.schembri@nrc.no
www.nrc.no
Twitter: @Karl_Schembri
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